Investigation on the importance of enterprise architecture in addressing business issues

Enterprise architecture describes the principles and guidelines in governing the implementation of information, technology and business mission in organizations. The main aim of enterprise architecture is to improve the alignment between information technology strategy and business strategy. The intent of our study is to broaden and strengthen the understanding of enterprise architecture by specifically looking at the business issues. We used Systemic Enterprise Architecture Methodology (SEAM) as the foundation of the study´s theoretical framework. Data was empirically gathered using questionnaire survey respondents who are concerned with the adoption, planning and implementation of EA in their organizations. A survey research method was employed involving one hundred organizations chosen at random. Descriptive and exploratory methods were used for data analysis. The findings gave us a general outlook of the EA activities in Malaysian organizations and its future directions. The study found Business and IT Alignment, and Business Change, which is also followed closely by Application Renewal as the important business issue in which enterprise architecture is required.